Fathering Our Future

God is the greatest example we as dads can follow. I recently realized that God is an initiator. He does things first and so should we. I want to encourage you to be an initiator and give you a few areas you need to make sure you are making the first steps in.

It can be easy to think you get to love what you want and the impact of that is isolated to you. Unfortunately, that is wrong. What you love matters, especially for your kids. I learned a great lesson through a challenging moment in life that showed me how important it is to wisely choose what I love. That's what I want to share with you.

Traveling with kids can be chaotic and a true test of your patience. Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to make traveling with kids easier and more desirable. My friend, Ryan O'Neil, shares his traveling expertise, hacks, and the reason why he wants to travel so much with his kids.

I want us to have a proper understanding of the power and value of communication. If we can obtain that, we will strive to learn how to foster good communication and adopt practices that will help us communicate better as dads. Today, I'm sharing one simple practice I have when it comes to communicating with my kids that is a game changer. Plus, I am giving you some hard facts about communication...

In order to succeed as fathers, we need to gain a mastery of the basics. In addition to communication and grace, there are two other basics we must be disciplined about. We have an opportunity to radically impact the future and we can do it by diligently practicing the basics.

We wrongfully assume that challenging tasks require complex solutions. We can incorrectly focus on the complicated and overlook the simplistic. Fatherhood is a challenge but if we are going to succeed we must have a passion for and a discipline of the basics. I want to share two fundamental basics of fatherhood today that we need to be passionate about. Without these two elements, we'll never trul...

I'm joined today by Kyle Carnohan, founder of Super Human Fathers. Kyle coaches and helps men develop a disciplined lifestyle, first in the gym, but most importantly in the home. Get ready to be inspired by his passion and to be encouraged to be more for your family. You might be surprised what you are capable of.

Your marriage will be one of the greatest influences on your children. It has the potential to display love in its purest form which will then lead to the development of other quality traits. It also has the potential to create fear, distrust, and confusion. I want to share two things that husbands tend to do too often that you should never do. Your marriage is too valuable to jeopardize by doing...

This is one of the most incredible testimonies you will hear. Pastor Johnny Hargrove was bound by drug addiction in the early years of his fatherhood journey but now has a remarkably strong relationship with each of his four kids. His story is one that gives hope. Most of all it shows that God cares about you as a father and that God desires to help you on the journey of fatherhood. No matter what...

Derrick Weeks joins me this episode to discuss the inadequacies that every dad deals with and how we can overcome them as we embrace the call of fatherhood. We talk about how to accept your inadequacies, learning to equip yourself for fatherhood, and how God makes up the difference throughout the process.

I recently took my daughter on a date and it was incredible. Not only was it exactly what she needed but it helped me clearly see how fascinating she is. Your children need your focused, isolated presence and you need theirs. I want to share four things you should stay mindful of, as a dad, in order to know when your child needs one on one time with you and how to go about it.

We have an incredible opportunity with fatherhood and we should desire to do the best we can. In order to do the best we can, we need to understand what our children are going through and where they are in terms of their development. Dr. Jim Littles joins me to discuss the various domains and phases of development so you can have plans and expectations best suited for your children.

It's November! A time when many people aim to express their gratitude and thankfulness. I want you to live life as a thankful man but today I want you to focus your thankfulness. Why are you thankful to be a dad? I'm sharing three of my reason why I am thankful for fatherhood to give you a head start. Listen, reflect, express your thankfulness for fatherhood, and come up with a reason of your own.

As Christian fathers, we can look at the world and culture and see so much that we disagree with. There are a number of things that are being promoted that we do not want our children to see. We can speak up and, in some cases, need to speak up but our focus must remain on our children. Our responsibility as fathers is less about combatting the culture and more about raising our children. We do no...

Raising children is not the easiest thing to do and while being a dad is a privilege and fulfilling, there is still a high demand on us. You have to lead and provide guidance but does your leadership bring condemnation or grace? Are you most concerned with your control or the cultivation of your child's uniqueness? I want to encourage and challenge you to think about your approach to fatherhood an...

As dads, we are not designed to function as dictators where whatever we say goes and our kids have to blindly and mindlessly obey us. We are supposed to be leaders who serve and teach our children so they can grow and find success in their lives. Our kids have questions as to why things happen or work the way that they do. We need to not only let them ask "why?" but we need to encourage it. Also,...

Too many fathers look back at their lives and have regrets. Too many young dads are on the path to have regrets. You do not have to have regrets. I'm going to share a way to eliminate regret from your life and instead achieve the relationship that you desire to have with your children. You can either allow your mistakes to haunt you forever or you can allow them to be stepping stones to the place...

Expectations as a dad can be difficult because life with kids is always a mystery. I hope to provide a few friendly reminders about expectations. First, you are not lowering your expectations when you become a dad. Second, you don't get rid of all expectations because kids can be crazy. Lastly, I'd like to recommend what I believe is a better way to form your expectations.

Brad Lea, a successful businessman and podcast host, stated that money makes you a better dad. That is a bold claim, but is it true? I'll provide some context, explain his logic, and give you my take on the topic.   Plus, here is the link for my shameless plug: https://www.patreon.com/AnthonyVandagriff

I recently took a trip to Washington D.C. and had two key subjects that relate to dads become refreshed in my mind: identity and mission. My goal is not just to remind you of these components but to reignite a passion within you to embrace who you are as a man and to strive with excellence to fulfill the mission you have as a father. Dads are vitals and we need to start living like we believe that...

Are you tired of being a dad or do you love what you get to do? I want to give you an exercise to try periodically, to reorient your love for your kids. It is not easy but it will strengthen and reignite your love for your kids and of being a dad.

Social media is a wonderful thing but it can create some problems for us if we are not careful. It is so easy to see friends or other people getting likes, loves, and positive comments on their posts and for us to be motivated to achieve the same goal. If that is your intent, you've missed the most incredible thing right in front of you and you've fallen into the trap of the comparison game.

It was reported on August 25, 2022, that a man in Minnesota beat his ex-wife to death in front of three of their children. When asked what was going on by the police he responded, "I don't feel right."  We carry the responsibility to display masculinity to our children. Losing control and never addressing our problems is not masculine. It is time that we drop this macho mask that says everything i...

Every dad imagines what their child will be like and they never expect there to be complications. The reality is children are born with disorders regularly. My friend, Greg Peters, has a daughter born with a genetic disorder called CdLS (Cornelia de Lange syndrome). He shares the emotional weight, the challenges, the ups, and the downs of his journey. Spoiler alert: this is not a story of tragedy....

You'll have your methods, you'll have your faults, and people will criticize you because of them. We cannot eliminate criticism but we can control how we handle and deal with it. I'm going to share three tips that can help you overcome dad shaming and keep you on mission to be a better dad every day.